Students at St John Bosco College, Battersea, have been studying Judaism as party of their RE classes recently. Two year 9 students tell us how a recent visit helped with their understanding of the Jewish faith and culture.

We went to the Jewish care home, Nightingale House, in Balham and were given a talk in their synagogue, it was an amazing experience because none of us had visited an orthodox synagogue before. We learnt a range of different things such as how the Jews live their everyday life in a care home and the importance of caring for the elderly and vulnerable.

We also learnt that the Jews have a 2.5 hour service on the Shabbat and that they read a section from the Torah during the Shabbat service. We realised how many similarities there are between our faiths and we were made to feel very welcome.

Our hosts told us about the books of the Torah which contain the following books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

It was a great morning to help us understand Judaism in a more practical way.

Zeffron-Pierre Jones and Josiah Henry - Year 9